Friday, April 04, 2008

Can we impeach him now?

NEW YORK - A newly disclosedsecret memo authored by the Department of Justice's Office of LegalCounsel (OLC) in March 2003 that asserts President Bush has unlimitedpower to order brutal interrogations of detainees also reveals aradical interpretation of the Constitution's Fourth Amendmentprotection from unreasonable search and seizure. The memo, declassifiedyesterday as the result of an American Civil Liberties Union lawsuit,cites a still-secret DOJ memo from 2001 that found that the "FourthAmendment had no application to domestic military operations."

Relying on the earlier memo, the March 2003 memo argues thatthe president has authority as Commander-in-Chief to bypass not onlythe Fourth Amendment but the central due process guarantee of the FifthAmendment as well.

"This memo makes a mockery ofthe Constitution and the rule of law," said Amrit Singh, a staffattorney with the ACLU.

Seriously. It's not whether we could, it's when he will be held accountable and how. This goes beyond minor trespasses, it's into the range of great big intentional subversions of the Constitution, dereliction of duty and ...well, let us be blunt. The expressed and proven intent to subvert the constitution and overthrow the rule of the people is treason.

And given the solicitation of such "opinions" from co-conspirators, it's not even really open to debate. A trial - before a court, not the senate - could almost be a formality.

So, the only question is, will the the next president commute his sentence to life at hard labor, without parole, or perpetuate "the New World Order" with a visit to the Bush Library?